Science Homework

Today, we wrapped up a lesson about animal habitats and adaptations. Students were given two 40-minute periods to complete this work, yet some did not use their time wisely and will need to finish their homework tonight. Students should have brought home their paper, but if they forgot, you can find the assignment here.

As promised, here are the links that you'll need to complete your 6-7 post-it notes: 

• Desert
• Arctic
• Temperate forest
• Tropical rain forest
• Grasslands
• Ocean 
• Lake/River

Thanks in advance for getting your work finished! Remember to do your best work and to label your post-it notes with your name. 

Social Studies Weekend Homework

Today your son or daughter is bringing home our final Social Studies project on trade.  Each student chose a produce import to study (ex. apples, cucumbers, pineapples, etc.) They have recorded data on why they think this is imported rather than grown in Dubai and now they need to collect data on where this is imported from.  We will be doing research on this in class but I need your help to collect the data from home.   

Your son or daughter should decide what data they would like to collect.  It can be any one of the following options (or a combination of 2 different options): 

1. Go to one or more grocery stores and record what different countries this product comes from.
2. Record the prices for the product and compare them to the place the product comes from. (Does the distance it is from Dubai make it more expensive?)
3. Do a taste test for the different countries and record your observations.  
4. Go to import/organic/specialized/local stores and compare the prices of this product at the different stores.
5. Do a survey of 5-10 people and find out what country they prefer their product imported from and ask why they prefer this region.  

Before Monday, please help your son or daughter record and collect this data. On Monday, we will begin organizing it into graphs and charts and then create a presentation.  

Please let me know if you have any questions.  Thank you so much for your support! 

PS. If you cannot make it to the grocery story, some places have shopping available online, such as Choitrams. 

Math Homework

We have begun Unit 8 and are learning about fractions. Unfortunately, the homework for tonight didn't print very well as it is difficult to see the shaded parts. For clarification, I have posted the 4 homework sheets here, but please know that only the first page is required. (The other 3 are optional and for those who'd like a challenge.)

• Page 1
• Page 2
• Page 3
• Page 4

Make-Up Work from Mar. 15

As we had so many children absent today, I thought it would be a good idea to post information about what students missed. 

Writing

To better prepare us for our fairy tale unit, which we just started, started, I taught that many fairy tales have adaptations. From our recent science unit, the students know this term refers to the idea of a change.  The same is true for fairy tales. An adaptation is when an author makes changes to a classic version of a text. 

We then visited this site and completed a "fractured fairy tale" as a class. We then watched this fractured fairy tale to get an idea of how a fairy tale could be adapted in a fun way. 

Students should start thinking about which fairy tale they would like to adapt. Here are some more examples of fairy tales that have been adapted from their original version: 

• Cinderella
• Snow White
• Red Riding Hood
• Pinnochio
• Puss in Boots
• The Ugly Almond Duckling
• The Elves and the Shoemaker
• All 12 episodes of Fractured Fairytales

Here is a great article, which includes a few more examples of modern day adaptations. I hope these will start to get your darlings thinking about which one they will do! 

Reading

We wrapped up our social issues book clubs today and will begin our mystery book clubs tomorrow. Please remind your sweetie to check out a mystery chapter book from the library or bring one from home. We will be having a lot of fun with this suspenseful unit! For our class read aloud, I have selected The Westing Game, which has received many awards, including: Winner of the Newbery Medal, Winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, and An ALA Notable Book. To learn more about the book, click here. There's even a Disney Channel movie that was made in 1997 called Get a Clue, which was based on the book and stars Lindsey Lohan in her younger, more innocent years. 

Math

As we are wrapping up Unit 7, today we spent time reviewing for the test, which will be on Tuesday (or next week if your child is not ready). I distributed this review sheet and we also did a self-assessment on Unit 7 for students to reflect on what they knew well and what they still need to master. Tomorrow, we will continue our review. We will not begin Unit 8 until April 12, so please don't worry if your child needs more time. Next week will be a sort of extension, enrichment, and review week in math. 

Science

Science was not our schedule today, so don't worry about that at the moment. We will have a double science lesson tomorrow (Monday); however, this is enough to focus on for now. 

I think that's it for now. I hope those of you who are struggling with sickness will feel better very soon!! We miss you!